It Could Not Have Been That Easy
by Starry-EyedandStormy
Summary: "I was now right behind the two of them. I saw the Doctor take Amy's... Mum's hand and say, "Come on, get back in the TARDIS." She didn't move. Come on, Mum... please..." River's thoughts and struggles during Amy's final scene in "The Angels Take Manhattan".


I sensed the disruption in time before I heard it. The telltale sound of an Angel sending someone back in time. _Dear God, no..._

Was it Amy or Rory? It had to be one of them; the four of us were the only ones in the graveyard. As the Doctor and I rushed back out of the TARDIS we heard Amy scream Rory's name. A tiny part of my mind wanted to roll its eyes despite the situation. _Of course it would have been Dad..._

"Where the hell did that come from?!" I heard myself yell as I stepped out of the TARIDS... funny, I didn't even remember wanting to speak, It just came out. The Doctor was already by Amy's side. I heard him yell back, "It's a straggler. It must have escaped somehow..." Mum was staring at the Angel. _No, let me do that, and you two get back in the TARDIS..._

I was now right behind the two of them. I saw the Doctor take Amy's... Mum's hand and say, "Come on, get back in the TARDIS." She didn't move. _Come on, Mum... please..._

"If I let it take me, will it send me back to him? Will it send be back to where it sent Rory?"

"I don't know! Nobody knows! Now come along, Pond, _please!"_

The Doctor was nearly crying. It hurt to see him like this. It hurt to see Mum... and he was still trying to get her to come back to the TARDIS... and he had almost echoed what I had just thought. But still... _Something is not right about this. She should come back to the TARDIS. We will figure something out. Don't worry. She would be safe and-... but she wouldn't be safe, would she? Traveling with the Doctor isn't safe. It's an adventure full of pain and danger and wonder... That's the reason that little Amelia Pond decided to leave with him all those years ago. But I don't want her to go! I would probably never see her again... either her or Dad, and the Doctor... is still begging her to come with us. _

_ ...No. That's wrong..._

Suddenly out of my thoughts I heard her say that it was her best chance to let the Angel send her back, and the Doctor was protesting. Before I even realized what I was saying, I felt myself cut him off and reply to her, "_Yes, it is! Of course it is!"_

I realized it was true. It would be best off for her to be with Rory. She said it herself; she would be with him... as she should be. I heard her call me over. I had been looking at the Angel all this time, and I didn't take my eyes off of it as I moved to Mum's side. She took my hand and squeezed it hard.

"Melody, you be a good girl, and you look after him."

I leaned down to kiss her hand, still staring at the Angel. When I saw that she was still looking, I ventured to look up at Mum... one last glimpse of her face. She was very near to tears, but she was not crying.

_Always so strong... just like me..._

But I could feel tears on my face.

I went back to staring at the Angel. I heard Amy say, "Raggedy Man..." and I heard her turn around.

_Let her go..._

_ "Goodbye."_

I looked away and heard as the Angel sent her away. I went back to staring at it so that it would not come any closer to the Doctor, who was sobbing and staring at the gravestone which now read Amy and Rory's names. I leaned down and held the Doctor's shoulders firmly as I drew him up to take him back to the TARDIS. When we were nearly there, I finally turned my back on the Angel, but as I followed the doctor inside and closed the door to the TARDIS, I looked back.

The Angel was weeping over their grave.

I looked back at the Doctor, who was sitting on one of the staircases with his head in his hands. I'd heard a legend once that the Weeping Angels had evolved from some of the oldest Timelords. The weeping stance was meant to be a punishment to show their shame. Looking between the Doctor and the Angel in that instant, I could believe it... but I would never let that happen to him. And for now... now. Fly the TARDIS. Get us out of here...

_No. He needs some hope first..._

I heard him mention something about them being my parents and then asking me to travel with him. _If only I could... for all of eternity. Keep him from ever again feeling like he does now... But I can't. And I can't take talking about this... Go start on the book right away. Give yourself something to do..._

As I walked down the hallway, I heard the Doctor say something about "the last page", and I heard the TARDIS door open and close as he left.

_ Let him go. The Angel got what it wanted, and it won't go after him now. Let him have some time..._

When he came back later, he was holding the book, as well as a single page in his other hand. He handed them both to me, then sent the TARDIS into deep space to simply drift for a while. I looked at the page, and read the Afterword that Mum would write. I wasn't sure if the Doctor would completely listen to what she said, but I knew he would go back to little Amelia.

_We should do that soon..._

I turned over the page to see one line hand written on the back.

"_Thank you, Melody. Love you always, Mum and Dad."_

I smiled through tears that maybe, just this once, I would let the Doctor see. I could think one thought: _We did the right thing._


End file.
